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Context:

Injury risk factors and relevant assessments have been identified in women’s soccer athletes. Other tests assess fitness (eg, the Gauntlet Test [GT]). However, little empirical support exists for the utility of the GT to predict time loss injury.

Objectives:

To examine the GT as a predictor of injury in intercollegiate Division I female soccer athletes.

Design:

Retrospective, nonexperimental descriptive cohort study.

Setting:

College athletic facilities.

Participants:

Main Outcome Measures:

GT, demographic, and injury data were collected over 3 consecutive seasons. GT trials were administered by coaching staff each preseason. Participation in team-based activities (practices, matches) was restricted until a successful GT trial. Soccer-related injuries that resulted in time loss from participation were recorded.

Results:

71 subjects met the inclusion criteria, with 12 lower body time loss injuries sustained. Logistic regression models indicated that with each unsuccessful GT attempt, the odds of sustaining an injury increased by a factor of 3.5 (P < .02). The Youden index was 2 GT trials for success, at which sensitivity = .92 and specificity = .46. For successive GT trials before success (1, 2, or 3), the predicted probabilities for injury were .063, .194, and .463, respectively.

Conclusions:

The GT appears to be a convenient and predictive screen for potential lowerbody injuries among female soccer athletes in this cohort. Further investigation into the appropriate application of the GT for injury prediction is warranted given the scope of this study.

*Ness and Zimney are with the Dept of Physical Therapy; Schweinle is with the Dept of Physician Assistant Studies, University of South Dakota; Vermillion, SD.